Which to use
“sein” is a verb and “seinen” is an unknown - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #63
- “sein” frequency rank
- #176
- “seinen” frequency rank
- 239
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | sein | seinen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Kopula, die dem Subjekt ein logisches Prädikat zuordnet | Akkusativ Singular Maskulinum des Possessivpronomens sein |
Where the eye mixes sein and seinen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses sein with seinen
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: sein is [zaɪ̯n] while seinen is [ˈzaɪ̯nən]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “sein” sits inside “seinen”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs unknown), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 239, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
sein is recorded at frequency rank #63, classified as averb, pronounced [zaɪ̯n]. seinen is at rank #176, tagged as anunknown, pronounced [ˈzaɪ̯nən].
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 239, this pair ranks #2,006,108 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of sein vs seinen
Shared letters: eins. Private to "sein": -. Private to "seinen": -.
"sein" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "seinen" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "sein" and "seinen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "sein" vs "seinen" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "sein" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "seinen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #2,006,108 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "sein" and "seinen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "seinen vs Stilen". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #2,006,108 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.